100 years on, entente still cordiale

The problem with the Entente Cordiale is that most Britons and French know "entente cordiale" only as a phrase - and they do not really believe it. Thus the Queen's visit to France to mark the centenary of the historic accord is as much an occasion to remember what divides as what unites the neighbours.

In a rare foray into the political arena on Monday, the Queen urged Britain and France to put aside their differences and stand together in fighting terrorism, emphasising that the two countries, at odds over the invasion of Iraq, must not allow "immediate political pressures" to divide them at a time of great uncertainty and threat.

Addressing a state banquet in Paris, she praised the way the two nations had stood together "resolute in defence of liberty and democracy", especially during both world wars and other 20th century conflicts.

While the Queen did not directly refer to national differences over Iraq, she appeared to hint at them when she told the 220 guests: "For just as our statesmen and my great-grandfather [Edward VII] realised 100 years ago, we too need to recognise that we cannot let immediate political pressures, however strongly felt on both sides, stand between us in the longer term.

"We are both reminded that neither of our two great nations . . . can afford the luxury of short-term division or discord in the face of the threats to our security and prosperity that now challenge us all."

Since 1066 for the British and the Hundred Years War for the French, the governments and peoples have viewed each other with a mixture of envy and hostility. Yet Anglo-French relations changed fundamentally when the D-Day landings 60 years ago persuaded the French that the US was now the undisputed leader of the English-speaking world.

A basic asymmetry has shaped cross-Channel relations - when France looks west, it now sees the US, not Britain, as its competitor; but when Britain looks east, it still sees France controlling, at times blocking, its relationship with Europe. While the French are obsessed with the US and indifferent to Britain, the British remain passionate about their love-hate for France.

President Jacques Chirac of France and Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, crossed swords over Iraq, with a huge number of Britons sharing Mr Chirac's opposition to the war and criticising Mr Blair's pro-American stance.

Yet, almost as irritating to Anglo-French government relations is Mr Chirac's clear preference for a strategic European alliance with Germany rather than with Britain.